


Memories That Paint Your Face

by tocourtdisaster



Series: Dreams-verse [1]
Category: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Crossover, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-05
Updated: 2010-09-05
Packaged: 2017-10-11 12:24:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/112376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tocourtdisaster/pseuds/tocourtdisaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He dreams of open plains and of a city on a hill, of mountains and horses and brothers-in-arms, never realizing that his dreams are memories. A Star Trek XI/Lord of the Rings crossover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Memories That Paint Your Face

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://caitri.livejournal.com/profile)[**caitri**](http://caitri.livejournal.com/), who wanted Jim/Eomer. This isn't your typical ST/LotR crossover, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I tried something a little different with the style of this, so I apologize if it comes off a little choppy. The title is from "Dreamer to Dream" by Brightwood.

He dreams of open plains and of a city on a hill, of mountains and horses and brothers-in-arms. He dreams of monsters and wizards, of war and the end of the world. He dreams of family and kings and of child-sized men with stout hearts.

He dreams of a name. _Eomer_. Horse lord.

When he wakes, Eomer disappears back into the ether and he becomes Leonard once again.

 

\------

 

Gram always says he's an old soul in a young body. When Leonard asks about it, she'll say, "It's your eyes. There's knowledge there no boy should know, knowledge that you don't even know you have."

Leonard always tries to get her to explain, but no matter how hard he tries, how many different questions he asks, Gram always remains tightlipped.

Gram passes away when Leonard's a teenager and, for a while, he forgets all about her proclamations.

 

\------

 

When Leonard is just a kid, barely more than a baby, he toddles out into the horse paddock and right up to Miss Ginger, his mama's mare. As the story goes, he reaches out and pets Miss Ginger's leg while mama, who hadn't even realized little Leonard was gone, starts to panic when she can't find him in the house or in the sandbox in the back yard.

Miss Ginger drops down to the ground and Leonard climbs on her back, curling his fingers through her mane and holding tight while she gets her feet back underneath her. He laughs, high and carefree, when she starts to walk, bouncing him a little.

Mama finds him fifteen minutes later, still perched on Miss Ginger's back, stroking what he can reach of her neck. Mama just watches for a few minutes before plucking Leonard from Miss Ginger's back and holding him tightly to her chest.

Leonard squirms, wanting nothing more than to go back to Miss Ginger.

 

\------

 

The dreams come and go unexpectedly. Sometimes, it's every night for a month; once, nearly six months pass before he dreams of the city on a hill, of the golden hall, of _home_.

He doesn't realize that with the dreams come talking in his sleep until he's awoken from a dream of open plains and a beautiful blonde woman he calls _Sister_ by Jim Kirk.

"Bones," Jim hisses, his fingers digging into Leonard's bare ribs.

"What?" Leonard demands, feeling bereft at being pulled from his dream.

"You were talking in your sleep," Jim says, rolling till he's laying half on Leonard, a leg slung over Leonard's hip, arm over chest, forehead pressed to Leonard's temple.

"What was I saying?" Leonard asks, shifting a little, trying to find the most comfortable position, made difficult by the fact that Jim's using him as a body pillow.

"Dunno," Jim says, his breath puffing against Leonard's jaw. "Sounded like some sort of Middle English gibberish."

 

\------

 

Everything comes to a head on shore leave. Jim drags him to a fortune teller, despite Leonard's grumblings that it's a crock and a waste of time.

"You are an old soul," the woman says, running the tips of her fingers over the Leonard's wrist and palm, reminding him of Gram and her assertions for the first time in over a decade. "But you are restless, aching for your home."

"What do you mean?" Leonard asks, drawn in despite himself. Jim, sitting next to him, is just watching, not speaking or moving or reacting in any way.

"You ache to feel the wind coming down the mountains, to hear the songs of your forebears," the woman says, her split pupil eyes meeting Leonard's. "You ache to see your sister and your hall, your wife and your son, your kingdom."

"How do you know?" Leonard hears himself asking, unable to look away from this woman's eyes. He can feel Jim shifting in the chair next to him.

"Your soul is old, but it is not closed," the woman says, laying her palm against Leonard's cheek. "You know some, but not all."

"Please." Leonard doesn't know why he says it, what he's asking for, just that he needs something and this woman can help.

"What is done cannot be undone," the woman cautions. Jim shifts again, but Leonard pays him no mind. "Are you certain this is what you want?"

"Please," Leonard repeats, his voice barely a whisper.

The woman cups his face between her palms. Leonard's eyes slip shut as the woman begins to chant too quietly for the universal translator to pick up.

Leonard barely notices the woman's hand's slipping from his face, so caught up is he in her words, words that he realizes he can understand.

"Remember," she says, gently tapping the middle of his forehead with two fingers.

 

\------

 

_He remembers._

He remembers Eowyn and holding her hand when their father dies, letting her cry into his chest when their mother dies, watching her grief turn to joy when he give his approval of her betrothal to Lord Faramir.

He remembers Theodred, his brother in all but blood, of carrying his body home.

He remembers the War, remembers losing almost everything, remembers losing too much.

He remembers Lothiriel, most beautiful Lothiriel, and his soul aches when he remembers her death and the death of their second son in childbirth.

He remembers Amrothos, Lothiriel's brother and Eomer's second chance at happiness, at his bedside as he took his last breath.

He remembers everything.

 

\------

 

When Leonard wakes, he's no longer in the fortune teller's shop. He's staring at the ceiling of Sickbay, lights dimmed for ship's night, the weight of Jim's head against his hip.

He lifts his hand from where it's resting on the bed and presses it to Jim's head, weaving his fingers through Jim's hair. Jim's awake in an instant, jerking up and displacing Leonard's hand. He perches on the edge of the bed and leans over Leonard, moving closer and closer until all Leonard can see is Jim.

"God, Bones, you scared the crap outta me," he says, resting his hand against Leonard's chest, the tips of his fingers resting against the pulse point at the base of Leonard's throat. "That woman said something to you and touched your forehead and then you just dropped."

"I'm okay, Jim," Leonard says, resting his hand over Jim's on his chest.

"What was all that about down there, Bones?" Jim asks after a moment of silence. "What did she do to you?"

"She helped me remember what I'd forgotten," Leonard says and refuses to say any more no matter how much Jim presses, understanding with a sudden clarity why Gram never gave him any more information than she had. Theodwyn had always been remarkably close-lipped, even back when she was his mother. She had never pushed for Leonard to remember his life as Eomer; she'd just pointed him in the right direction.

He'll do the same for Jim, he decides, until he remembers Amrothos.

It's the least he can do.

 

**End**   



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